Working in Greenbelt or Laurel MD- Help! (Baltimore, Columbia: renting, crime)

[sgtpeppers24]

My husband and I are in our mid/late twenties and may be relocating to the Maryland/DC area for a job possibly in Greenbelt or Laurel. We would be renting for at least a year, but then hope to buy a house around 400-450k. We do not have any kids yet, but may start a family in the next few years, so schools would be important. We have done a few trips to DC and looked in the Ellicott City and Columbia area. We had heard really good things, but feel like we missed what the hype was about. We are not sure if an area exists with the things we are looking for:

Things we really enjoy/look for:
Outdoor activities (walking, biking, etc.)
Historic-style homes with character
Safe area (want to be able to go out walking at night)
Good schools (I'm a teacher)
Neighborhoods with character
Proximity to restaurants, breweries, libraries, health food stores, etc.
Within a few hrs to the beach
A neighborhood with others our age

The houses were affordable in Columbia, but the area/houses lacked character (I know because they were built around the same time). We are worried that we will be bored in the suburbs and will have to drive a distance to do the activities we enjoy. We liked the style of homes in Takoma Park and downtown Annapolis, though they may be out of our price range.

Questions we have:

What other areas besides EC and Columbia may fit our criteria? (max commute to Greenbelt/Laurel of 50 mins)
Is there a lot for millennials to do in the area?
How much of a pain is it to get around to restaurants, activities, etc?

Any insight on the area would be greatly appreciated, as we have no clue what we are dealing with!

[cjmeck]

I think the biggest hurdle you'll face is wanting a home with character in your price range. Also, you're looking for how you live now (which btw makes total sense) and yet also having an eye on the future (thinking about schools). If suburbs aren't quite your speed, consider areas like Silver Spring or Takoma Park. That will give you the millennial vibe you're looking for in a more urban setting. There are pockets of older homes not far from shops, restaurants. As to schools, that area feeds into Montgomery County Public Schools (a highly ranked district but individual school ratings will vary). You'll want to check crime stats at www.spotcrime.org and once you know what schools a particular area feeds into you can see ratings at GreatSchools: School Ratings and Reviews for Public and Private Schools. And since you're new to the area and mentioned breweries, you'll LOVE this whole area for that. Some great local breweries: Manor Hill, Jailbreak and Flying Dog. Welcome!

[skeddy]

With your budget, you'll have to make some compromises.

[tgs_bg]

You will not find a place that has all of what you're looking for. If you can sacrafice the homes and neighborhoods with character then you have a lot of options.

50 minutes from Greenbelt will give you homes in practically all of Anne Arunel County and Howard County. I would focus solely on those two counties given your requirements and price range.

[tarheel_indc]

If you were originally interested in Columbia/EC, I would suggest you check Catonsville, zip code 21228. The schools are pretty good at least through middle school. It is walkable to nice stores and restaurants along Frederick Road and it is a short drive to downtown EC. For outdoor activities you have Patapsco State Park nearby. There are many houses in your price range, and some larger, beautiful, more expensive older homes.

[papichulo2]

Originally Posted by sgtpeppers24

My husband and I are in our mid/late twenties and may be relocating to the Maryland/DC area for a job possibly in Greenbelt or Laurel. We would be renting for at least a year, but then hope to buy a house around 400-450k. We do not have any kids yet, but may start a family in the next few years, so schools would be important. We have done a few trips to DC and looked in the Ellicott City and Columbia area. We had heard really good things, but feel like we missed what the hype was about. We are not sure if an area exists with the things we are looking for:

Things we really enjoy/look for:
Outdoor activities (walking, biking, etc.)
Historic-style homes with character
Safe area (want to be able to go out walking at night)
Good schools (I'm a teacher)
Neighborhoods with character
Proximity to restaurants, breweries, libraries, health food stores, etc.
Within a few hrs to the beach
A neighborhood with others our age

The houses were affordable in Columbia, but the area/houses lacked character (I know because they were built around the same time). We are worried that we will be bored in the suburbs and will have to drive a distance to do the activities we enjoy. We liked the style of homes in Takoma Park and downtown Annapolis, though they may be out of our price range.

Questions we have:

What other areas besides EC and Columbia may fit our criteria? (max commute to Greenbelt/Laurel of 50 mins)
Is there a lot for millennials to do in the area?
How much of a pain is it to get around to restaurants, activities, etc?

Any insight on the area would be greatly appreciated, as we have no clue what we are dealing with!

Beach living and paradise in maryland is hard to find. And the schools are good here in general.
Greenbelt isn’t a bad place to start its near shopping, umd, and has nice libraries. Also you can save some money and plan for the family. Your just starting out, you need to keep it down. Beaches and homes with character health food joints etc are not nesscisites. And yah Colombia has nothing really going on. Other places are Hyattsville, maple lawn, silver spring, Bowie and Lanham. Good luck

[WhoDatInMD]

Originally Posted by sgtpeppers24

My husband and I are in our mid/late twenties and may be relocating to the Maryland/DC area for a job possibly in Greenbelt or Laurel. We would be renting for at least a year, but then hope to buy a house around 400-450k. We do not have any kids yet, but may start a family in the next few years, so schools would be important. We have done a few trips to DC and looked in the Ellicott City and Columbia area. We had heard really good things, but feel like we missed what the hype was about. We are not sure if an area exists with the things we are looking for:

Things we really enjoy/look for:
Outdoor activities (walking, biking, etc.)
Historic-style homes with character
Safe area (want to be able to go out walking at night)
Good schools (I'm a teacher)
Neighborhoods with character
Proximity to restaurants, breweries, libraries, health food stores, etc.
Within a few hrs to the beach
A neighborhood with others our age

The houses were affordable in Columbia, but the area/houses lacked character (I know because they were built around the same time). We are worried that we will be bored in the suburbs and will have to drive a distance to do the activities we enjoy. We liked the style of homes in Takoma Park and downtown Annapolis, though they may be out of our price range.

Questions we have:

What other areas besides EC and Columbia may fit our criteria? (max commute to Greenbelt/Laurel of 50 mins)
Is there a lot for millennials to do in the area?
How much of a pain is it to get around to restaurants, activities, etc?

Any insight on the area would be greatly appreciated, as we have no clue what we are dealing with!

I think you should give north Bowie a look. It actually matches every item on your list for the most part and is within a 20 minute drive to Greenbelt. It is still affordable for your budget also. Most of the homes were built by famed developers Levitt & Sons, modeled after the homes in Levittown, New York. All the streets in each neighborhood typically start with the same letter and the neighborhoods are referred to by that letter "W Section", "K Section", "R Section", etc... Some of the newer neighborhoods also reference Bowie's horse racing history in their names. Bowie still has a decent older population but as the older folk sell their homes to downsize, they're being snatched up by younger individuals and families, typically in their 30s from the ones I've talked too. Bowie has a lot of parks and walking/running/biking/equestrian/water trails. Our neighborhoods are safe and I usually see people walking themselves or their dogs out at night. The schools in north Bowie are good for the most part. We have 8 and 9 star rated elementary schools on GreatSchools and a good middle school. The other middle school and the city's only non-vocational high school are average though. Bowie has a fair selection of restaurants, a health food store, etc and Bowie is close to Crofton, Annapolis, DC, and Baltimore that opens up more options, especially options catered to millennials.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[cjmeck]

Originally Posted by WhoDatInMD

I think you should give north Bowie a look. It actually matches every item on your list for the most part and is within a 20 minute drive to Greenbelt. It is still affordable for your budget also. Most of the homes were built by famed developers Levitt & Sons, modeled after the homes in Levittown, New York. All the streets in each neighborhood typically start with the same letter and the neighborhoods are referred to by that letter "W Section", "K Section", "R Section", etc... Some of the newer neighborhoods also reference Bowie's horse racing history in their names. Bowie still has a decent older population but as the older folk sell their homes to downsize, they're being snatched up by younger individuals and families, typically in their 30s from the ones I've talked too. Bowie has a lot of parks and walking/running/biking/equestrian/water trails. Our neighborhoods are safe and I usually see people walking themselves or their dogs out at night. The schools in north Bowie are good for the most part. We have 8 and 9 star rated elementary schools on GreatSchools and a good middle school. The other middle school and the city's only non-vocational high school are average though. Bowie has a fair selection of restaurants, a health food store, etc and Bowie is close to Crofton, Annapolis, DC, and Baltimore that opens up more options, especially options catered to millennials.

Let me know if you have any questions.

I thought about Bowie for them too but wondered if they'd think it was too suburban. I LOVE all of the Cape Cods that Levitt built; some of the neighborhoods are pretty charming. And their budget would go pretty far here.

[kjg1963]

The historic district of Laurel definitely has the type of house you are looking for and probably a little bit of your other wants.